


Lighthouses make the rockiest shores safe

by thelittle_startrooper



Series: You don't have to say I love you to say I love you [3]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, i wrote this in a day, just let a gay write in peace, look i did my best alright, rated teen for panic attacks, so that's why it sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 10:51:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17364632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelittle_startrooper/pseuds/thelittle_startrooper
Summary: He made a note in his How To Look After Geordi file, and pulled the Lieutenant in for a hug.





	Lighthouses make the rockiest shores safe

**Author's Note:**

> This was for a Star Trek Gift Exchange on Tumblr. I love the navigation gays, and they deserve the world. I hope you lovely readers enjoy! x

It was an ordinary day on the bridge, and everything seemed to be going fine. The viewscreen was empty, save for the same stars they’d been staring at for the past week, and the crew was calm. There was really nothing to be concerned about. Geordi sat at the nav desk, Data beside him as usual. The whirring and buzzing of the console was reassuring in its steadfastness; behind them, the Captain was talking to Riker and Troi. They were patrolling a section of space near a port after Starfleet had been warned of a potential unknown threat, but so far no such thing had happened.

The jolt was sudden, and threw Geordi from his seat. He was catapulted across the aisle, slamming into the solid form of Data, who reacted quickly. The android caught Geordi before he fell. Geordi took a moment, his head buzzing and his VISOR glitching, then scrambled back to his eat. He shot Data a grateful smile. 

The computer was screaming all sorts of warnings at the bridge, and the crew scrambled back to work. Data’s hands flew over the console, Picard was shouting instructions behind him, Tasha was contacting each deck for security breaches. It was utter chaos, and Geordi was bent over the control panel. He was trying to catch a glimpse of the alien, but no luck. The creature was fast. It wasn’t stopping for anyone. 

“Captain, I’ve locked on to the ship,” Data said. Geordi glanced over. He was getting worried. Data looked to be trying extremely hard to hold down the coordinates, almost as if the ship was pulling away, pulling taut like an invisible rope. If this thing was able to break free from the Enterprise of all things, then that meant that they were dealing with something impossibly strong. Something agile, and most importantly, something dangerous. Data glanced over at Geordi with a strange expression. Geordi had no chance to try and figure it out, however, as the console beeped.

“LaForge, set a course for pursuit,” Picard said. 

“Yes, Sir,” Geordi replied. He input the coordinates Data had sent. He curled his right hand into a fist to stop it shaking. He took a deep breath. The events of the day seemed to crescendo around him, and he knew they were going to overwhelm him. The anxiety he had been forcing down in every new situation for the past year was bubbling up inside of him, threatening to explode. The VISOR was still glitching in and out, and the world seemed to be spinning. There was ringing in his ears, and it was annoying, and jeez could it just stop? Geordi was sweating, more than normal, and he felt hot, and everything was falling apart, and he couldn’t let that happen, Data relied on him, Picard relied on him, the crew relied on him, the ship relied on him, and he was sinking, drowning, burning-

“Excuse me, Lieutenant, would you like to hear a joke?” Data’s voice was a lifeline, a beacon in a storm, and Geordi reached for it desperately. He felt himself resurface. The bridge came back into focus, the ringing stopped. No one else seemed to have noticed, too busy speculating on whatever it was they were following.   
“Sure, Data.” Geordi said. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. Data counted it as a victory. He did not actually have a joke, but humans made them up all the time, right? 

“What do you call a Sus Domesticus sheltering from a blizzard?” Geordi tilted his head in the cute way Data loved, and shrugged. 

“A pig in a blanket.” 

Geordi wasn’t sure if the joke was funny, or if he was just experiencing heightened emotions, or if it was the completely deadpan delivery, but he burst out laughing. It got the attention of the rest of the bridge, who looked on in confusion as Geordi sat at his station doubled over with laughter, and Data looked on with a pleased expression. 

 

It was much later, when the two were alone in Geordi’s quarters when Data asked what had happened. 

“It was a panic attack,” Geordi explained. “Sometimes when I’m really anxious and I can’t control it, it all becomes too much.”

Data nodded. He had read about them, but did not realise that they could manifest differently from person to person. He made a note in his How To Look After Geordi file, and pulled the Lieutenant in for a hug.

“I will make a note of it,” he said. Geordi snorted. Of course, he would.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I did look up the Latin name for pig for a joke. Yes, I think I'm hilarious. Yes, I think this joke is the pinnacle of comedy. What can I say? I'm a comedic genius.


End file.
